Kurmanji

All you want to know about Kurmanji

For the dialect sometimes called Southern Kurmanji Dialect see: Sorani

Kurmanji: (Kurdish: Kurmancî called Bahdînî sometimes) is a dialect of Kurdish and it is spoken by almost all of the Kurds in Turkey and Syria as well as Kurds in Former Soviet countries and by Kurds in Lebanon. It also has a bit of speakers in Iraq and Iran.

Contents

Script

Kurmanji dialect, also referred to as [Northern Kurdish], uses the Latin script[1]. The Latin script in which Kurdish is written in Turkey and Syria as well as in exile communities in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia is based on Jaladet Bedirkhan’s (Celadet Bedirxan’s) alphabet.

Kurds have also used the term Kurmanji as an identity for Kurds that speak the dialects of the Kurmanji mentioned above. This term is in contrast to Gorani or Dimili (also Zaza), which have been used to describe other people in the region who speak Zaza-Gorani languages.[2]

Etymology

The main theory about the etymology of Kurmanji is that the term Kurmanji, according to Prince Jaladet Bedirkhan, the great Kurish intellectual who prepared the Latin Kurdish alphabet, comes from Kurd+man+cî which means, those Kurds who remained in their places (not moved like others). In earler publicatons of this century, the term Kurmanji was sometimes spelled with a "d" like "Kurdmanji" but the standard spelling of the term is Kurmanji in English and Kurmancî in Kurdish.

One other theory is that the term Kurmanji is believed by some scholars to mean Median Kurd.[3] Some scholars say the older form of this word is Khormenj (also possibly Hormenj, which means “place of Khormens” or “land of Khormens” in Kurdish). Kurds historically lived in the area Greek sources defined as Armenia; thus Greek Armen could be a rendering of local Khormen. Note that modern Armenians' name for themselves has historically been Haiq.

The Magi Theory

Other scholars dismiss the above theories as false. These scholars claim the term Kurmanji originates from the two distinct words, kur (“boy” or “child”) and magi. Magi refers to one of the ancient tribes of the Median Empire whose priests are referenced in the Bible and are commonly known as the Three Wise Men from Medya.[4] The direct translation applied to the term Kurên Magî is “Children of Magi”. Scholars say that Manji is simply a distorted form of the original term. These scholars also claim that the Magi tribe, or followers of the priests that were referred to as “Magi of the people”, may have been the original speakers of Proto-Kurdish.[5] Indeed pre-modern documents write the name Kurmanj as Kurmaj; For instance Masture Ardalan writes: ... the third group of Kurmaj are Baban... Also there is a desire in Kurdish to add a n before j. (ex. Iranian taj in Kurdish becomes tanj.)

References

  1. ^ Kurdish language - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  2. ^ http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/his/orig.html
  3. ^ E.B. Soane, Grammar of the Kurmanji or Kurdish Language, Part I, p 5, London 1913
  4. ^ The Magi - A short history
  5. ^ Who Were the Magi?

See also

External links

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Iranian languages
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Bartangi · Ishkashmi  · Khufi · Munji · Oroshori · Ossetic · Parachi · Pashto · Roshani (Roshni) · Sanglechi · Sarikoli · Shughni · Wakhi · Vanji · Yaghnobi · Yidgha · Yazgulami · Zebaki
W = Western · E = Eastern · Italics indicate extinct languages
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